Flannery O'Connor's life remembered with memorial Mass

Bishop Emeritus J. Kevin Boland of Savannah discussed Flannery O'Connors "Prayer Journal" in his homily Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. (Photo by Carl Elmore/For the Savannah Morning News)

Bishop Emeritus J. Kevin Boland of Savannah discussed Flannery O'Connors "Prayer Journal" in his homily Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. (Photo by Carl Elmore/For the Savannah Morning News)

Several relatives of the late Flannery O'Connor, including Robert Persse, at center, and Patricia Persee, at right, attended Sunday's Memorial Mass for O'Connor, who died 50 years ago. (Photo by Carl Elmore/For the Savannah Morning News)

Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Savannah native Flannery O’Connor and the author who is best known for her short stories and Southern gothic writing style was remembered with a memorial Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

“Today is special because we are remembering in prayer Flannery O’Connor on the 50th anniversary of her death,” said the Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, bishop emeritus of Savannah, who led the Memorial Remembrance and delivered the homily.

“In the great scheme of things 50 years is not a long period of time, however in the life of Flannery it takes on significant meaning... Last year her prayer journal was published, what a beautiful treasure. Praying is the lifeblood of our relationship with the loving God.”

O’Connor died in 1964 at the age of 39 in Milledgeville. She had suffered from lupus for a number of years. O’Connor was baptized at the cathedral and attended adult Mass with her parents from the age of 6. O’Connor’s childhood home, which she lived in from her birth in 1925 until 1938, sits adjacent to the cathedral on Lafayette Square.

Sunday’s Mass connected readings from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospel to the life of O’Connor, discussing her personal relationship with God.

“Fifty years after her death Flannery still speaks to us,” Boland said before reading passages from O’Connor’s prayer journal.

“‘If I ever do get to be a fine writer, it will not be because I am a fine writer but because God has given me credit for a few of the things He kindly wrote for me.’”

“What little she had, 39 years of life and serious illness for many of those years, two novels, several short stories, prolific letter writing and the ongoing burden to give back,” he said, “And after 50 years we better appreciate how our lives have been enriched by the little she had to give.”

Event organizer Mary Lawrence Kennickell, a longtime friend of the O’Connor family and a member of the board of directors for the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, recalls fond memories of O’Connor, who she said was a keen observer and a very practical person.

“She and her mother on Sundays would drive out to our family home and I have memories of her smile, her laugh and she was welcoming to our children,” said Kennickell, who also served as lector for the service.

“I thought it was lovely,” Kennickell said of the memorial Mass. “How he brought out that Flannery in her short life gave us something to think about and contemplate in regards to our humanness and our relationship to God. She gave us something to think about even today. It’s a classic.”

ABOUT THE FLANNERY O’CONNOR CHILDHOOD HOME

The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home is located at 207 E. Charlton St. on Lafayette Square. It is one of the few museum houses in the country that is restored to the Depression-era. The home offers a variety of free events throughout the year including a free Sunday lecture series in the spring and fall.

Hours: 1-4 p.m. Friday-Wednesday

Cost: Adults, $6; students and active military, $5; children 15 & under are free.

O’Connor was born in Savannah on March 25, 1925, and is the author of the acclaimed novels “Wise Blood” and “The Violent Bear It Away,” as well as 32 short stories and numerous essays. Best known as a pioneering Southern gothic author who often wrote about morally flawed characters. O’Connor suffered from lupus and died Aug. 3, 1964, in Milledgeville, she was 39.

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